Well it all arrived at New Delhi airport, even my new Burberry style suitcase held together!
I had to queue for an hour at passport control so with little to no sleep the night before was glad I had given myself a treat and booked into a four star hotel near the airport for a two day mini break before I hit cheaper digs in the city. I grabbed a taxi or more to the point a guy directed me to the taxi and then expected a $20 tip what a cheek! I have him $5 for the 5 minutes that took him.
It was on of those small bedford rascal type minivans and a challenge to get me and my bags in but we succeeded and in no time at all I was installed by the pool!
I selected the hotel as it had a big pool and jumped in and did a few lengths before the sun went down which I hoped would help to loosen up the shoulder I was still having trouble with.
The next day I took a tour round the place which was a bit of an enclave with other hotels offices shops and restaurants very quiet and sterile compared to with what I anticipated was to come.
Right the honeymoon was over and I took a hotel car into the city and after some careful negotiation I was delivered to my downtown hotel which was in the middle of the bazaar district with every inch of space give over to shops and street vendors with all manner of cars, rickshaws, tuk tuks, and motorbikes trying to squeeze through the crowded streets utter madness.
I spent the afternoon taking a walk up to Connaught Place which is the up market shopping area and paid £3 for a mineral water in a supposed English Pub which served no alcohol which I will not be returning to in a hurry! I was looking for somewhere maybe to watch the rugby on Saturday but trying some other places they were closed with Dry Day signs up. Today was a public holiday celebrating the 150th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi and it looks like there was a ban on serving alcohol so I headed back to my hotel for some food and an early night.
The next morning I got my bike out of the luggage store and set about assembling it which as you can see from the slides below went well with no parts broken or missing.
In the afternoon I jumped on the metro to head out to one of the Decathlon stores to do some shopping for a new sleeping bag having posted my three season one home and maybe a new pair of convertible trousers, some cycling shorts and a new top. My original plan was to cycle there on my way out of the city but the stores didn't open until 11 am and I wanted to be out of the city way before than so thought I would get it done today.
This ended up being a bit of a disaster as I managed to get on the wrong line and had to take two other trains to get back to where I wanted to get to. There was then a long walk to the store which when I got there had closed down so a bit of a waste of an afternoon but not a complete loss I was able to negotiate a trade in for my bike, what an upgrade!
Eventually I managed to find a sleeping bag in the bazaar are not far from the hotel decided the other items could wait and left it at that. I had dinner in the city centre and then grabbed a tuk tuk back to my hotel which was an interesting experience it would have been faster to walk but not half as much fun!
On Friday, I booked through the hotel a tour of Delhi which given the size of the place I thought would be the best way of getting around. I thought this was going to be the usual minibus affair but turned out to be my own taxi for a personal guide but unfortunately he spoke very little english so thank God I had my MapsMe app to tell me what he had dropped me off at or I would have been lost.
Some pictures from the day are below
Right quick route update - I had calculated counting back it would be best to leave on the 7th October to meet up with the lads in Lucknow from where we would ride together to Kathmandu but two things have changed my plans.
Firstly the 6th is a Sunday and I thought riding out of the city then would hopefully give me lighter traffic.
Secondly I saw day trips advertised to the Taj Mahal and a quick check showed me this was in Agar and could be incorporated into my route with a slight diversion to the south.
So early on Sunday morning I put my unusual luggage alongside the others in the lobby and headed for breakfast.
At 8 am and after carbo loading on rice and veg with a strong coffee even by my standards I was revved up and with some trepidation ready to take to the streets of Delhi.
What a nightmare! The traffic was coming at me head on and there was little to no room to avoid it on my side of the road. What is more the scooters and tik tuk drivers gared at me as I forced my way forward like I had no right to be there.
In fact I hadn't! One thing I had forgotten was that I was back in The Empire and whilst these were all Johnny Foreigners they had the good sense to drive on the right side of the the road or more to the point the left!
I sheepishly moved over to the other side and and found the going was strangely improved as I arrive in front of New Delhi Train Station.
From there I was on one of the main roads taking round Connaught Place and past the India Gate and then my route out of the city.
I think I definitely made the right decision because as soon as I hit there big roads I had a reasonable amount of room and was soon swept out of the city center.
I had to keep my wits about me though especially trying to second guess the buses and tuk tuks who would pull in and set off at random.
I was though soon channeled into a separate expressway which was railed off from the local roads so could put my head down and maintain a good pace without having to worry about them.
I was speeding along when a shout next to me broke me out of my tunnel vision. It was Jatinder the cycling Sheikh and we rode together for the next 5-6 miles whilst I updated him on where I had been and what my plans were going forward.
He was great company was very pleased to be joining me even for a short leg of my marathon ride and helped to roll the miles along. I had a few years on him so maybe he might take up the challenge of a long distance ride I have him on Strava so I'll be watching!
Jatinder headed for home, we said our goodbyes and I pedalled on and as I hit 20 miles we were diverted onto the side road that took all the local traffic.
I took the opportunity to take my first beak getting a coke and a couple of bags of crisps at a filling station there being an alarming lack of Magnums.
I consumed these whilst the owners young son played and adjusted everything on my bike. As a result of this I set off in the wrong gear whilst trying to adjust my brakes so they would work again.
I took another break where I was introduced to Royal Green whisky which I do not think is going to be challenging a single malt but it was hard to tell as the guy drowned it in water but I was polite in my appraisal. I had done 40 miles and had a couple of possible hotels I had noted 20 or 30 miles ahead so I dialed in the first one and continued.
Suddenly after another 5 miles or so the roadside opened up with green fields on either side I had escaped Delhi unscather!
I still had to stay focused though as there was no separate expressway now and there were an alarming number of vehicles even vans salmoning towards me (see Istanbul). These I had to take evasive action to avoid with a couple of near collisions with motorbikes who closed in at astonishing speed when your eyes were eleshere.
I was starting to get weary both with the concentration and my legs which had been idle for nearly two weeks now. I had covered 60 miles and it was only 1 pm so I decided it was time to take a longer break and found a roadside cafe.
Here I was able to sit down and have some fried rice and a ridiculously small cup of really sweet tea washed down with come cold water. Whilst eating, I watched the passengers of an old Leyland coach having to push start it.
I set off again but my legs were like lead and dialed in The Taj Mahal and it was just over 60 miles to go. So taking stock, I thought if I can get some rest now and do the same again with a good early start and similar pace I should be there tomorrow afternoon.
By now I had passed the first hotel I had found on MapsMe but the second was 5-6 miles down the road pulled in at a a nice looking one by the roadside at just about 70 miles for the day which was a great result.
It was quite expensive but just within my budget and once showered I had a couple of hours reading my kindle interspersed with watching striped squirrels and small stork like birds in the gardens.
Right time to go and head for The Taj Mahal today but as I was setting things up the entire staff of the hotel were crowded round me asking me questions about the bike my route etc. I though I'm never going to get on the road at this rate so jumped in the saddle and fired off.
I got through the gate and hid behind the security lodge entered my route in the gps and got Strava working to record my efforts. I then headed to the road only to see the staff still on the doorstep to wave me off bless them!
I was back on the highway again but thankfully not the slowest thing on it as I overtook tractors, rickshaws, other bicycles and the occasional overloaded tuk tuk.
I was just after 8 am when I got moving and the temperature was just nice however, you could feel the heat and humidity building.
Frustration - noun The feeling on a Monday morning of finding a Costa Coffee on the westbound carriageway with no way of getting to it !
What a pain but I had seen on the route ahead that there was a fort in the town after 20 miles so made the decision to head over there.
I hoped that as it looked like being a tourist attraction there might be a cafe where I could get a soya latte and fulfill my Costa induced coffee cravings.
The route to the fort was hard work I was directed into someones back yard gave my apologies and left then down to a steep flight of steps next to some agitated monkeys who I thought were going to rip my face off whilst I performed another three point turn.
I double checked the app was actually in car mode which it was and on the third attempt made it to the fort.
This I have to say was a bit disappointing and not really worth a photo just a crumbling wall which had adverts painted on it.
Here was a quay where people were taking river boat trips and this man with orange hair saying "Hare Krishna" and asking for money. Unfortunately there were no cafes so I made my way into the town and back towards the main road.
To be honest I could have passed every brand of coffee shop on my way out of town but I was totally focused on avoiding all obstacles in my path.
One of theses was a barrow full of bananas so a stopped and bought a few of those as the three thin slices of toast I had at breakfast had been burnt through and my fuel light had come on!
I was getting pretty frustrated that this was all a waste of time and worried that I might reach Agra too late to visit the Taj Mahal.
Then to make matters worse I arrived at a level crossing with a train going through the train passed and there was a steady stream of motorbikes passing inside me so I joined them an snuck through the barriers with a quick look left and right.
I would have been clear of the traffic for a bit if I hadn't stopped to take this damn photo!
I put my head down then and pushed for 15 miles which I covered in an hour and was back on schedule but my legs and shoulder were sore again so had some lunch and eventually arrived in Agra at about 2.30. I had a quick shower and did some washing and then time for some sightseeing.
The Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahān as a mausoleum to immortalize his favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal the others apparently he just buried out the back.
She died in 1631 giving birth to her 14th child which even by today's standards is a good innings. You have to remember that there were only three channels on the TV in those days on one of them mostly showed The Open University.
Visiting the mausoleum was a but of an let down I'm afraid. You joined a queue which snaked passed 2-3 signs that said do not stop and do not take any pictures and once in side what did most people do?
You guessed it and the guards there then blew whistles and shouted at people to stop taking photos and keep moving. Hardly the solemnity of a mausoleum as we were herded past the two coffins placed behind elaborately carved marble screens. It sounded more like a public swimming baths and I'm not sure the Emperor would have been that impressed.
Now I was aiming to stay in a hostel in Agra but they had nowhere to store my bike so I ended up in a nearby hotel which was a very smart move as I was up 5-6 times in the night with a touch of Delhi Belly. Thank goodness for an en suite! I woke up not feeling good but thought I should be able to ride some distance further down the track rather than staying in a very noisy hotel being roadside in the city centre.
Breakfast was not included in the room rate so I just had some fruit which I had left over from the day before and got on the road. Making my way back onto the highway I had read on the back of many lorries and other commercial vehicles to blow your horn.
I did some digging into what this meant and apparently not one of the rules of the road but definitely an unofficial one. See below with everything sounding off as they progressed along the road to make the other road users aware. Some of the lorries and buses have the type of air horns only hear at traveling fair grounds which are absolutely deafening!
Leaving the city I passed under the Lucknow Expressway which was the shortest route to the city but definitely looked like the one road that I was not going to be able to cycle on. I had dismissed this as a route anyway as it didn't pass through any towns or villages so supplies would be limited.
I was as I said not feeling 100% so I just kept a steady pace and pulled off the highway at one of the many flyovers to join the mayhem and buy some apples and bananas from a fruit stall I found below.
I continued along the way taking long breaks at cafes for cold water and eating my fruit and was able to make steady progress rolling at 12-13 mph compared with around 20 I was going for the last two days.
The roadway in built up areas looked like it had never seen a street sweeper with as you can see nearly a third was covered in sand and gravel which is death to a bicycle.
Several times motor bikes or tuk tuks would drive perilously close to me while they watched my toiling on my bike and sometimes try and engaged me in Hindi. I was getting pushed by them into the sand which was (insert expletive) dangerous. A few times I just did and emergency stop to get out of that situation and take a short break before carrying on.
Each day I would be asked 2-3 times to stop for a picture I'm afraid I refused a couple but really should be more accomodating.
After 50 miles I was starting to feel weary it was 10 miles to go to the hotel I was aiming for but a quick calculation confirmed it was 120 miles to Kanpur where I wanted to get to in three days so thought I could stop now and hopefully feel better in the morning.
The first hotel I tried was really nice but at the top end of my budget so it being early I mistakenly rode on and ended up in a much cheaper room. The guy at the front desk helped me up with my bags and asked for a 1,000 rupee tip where did he think he was the Ritz Carlton!
They even had the cheek to take a deposit !
I just continued to eat fruit, nuts and some biscuits that evening and the next morning things had solidified but I didn't take any chances. Having seen the state of the room I skipped breakfast and managed to get my deposit returned once they had established I had not made any improvements to my room so was on my way.
I was still not feeling great so I stuck to the same plan of 15 miles stints with good rest breaks.
As I rode away a new obstacle was found on the road as the farmers were spreading their grain on the road to dry which was taking up one of the lanes.
There were also roadworks being carried out on the fly overs which meant they were down to a single lane at some points which was fun as I was riding along being chased by a speeding walzer blowing it's air horn for me to move across. I just held my line and got deafened, I gave my best gallic shrug as there was no way it was safe for a lorry to squeeze by here!
There were also sections where we got routed off the flyovers which were chaos with a full traveling fair kicking off again as we snaked through the chaos below.
This was made even more interesting by some vicious double and triple speed humps that killed my speed dead much to the annoyance of anyone behind. I was not the slowest thing on the road tought I think the prize goes to this guy!
I stopped again that the first village from some more fruit and there were goats everywhere and overtaking me in tuk tuks and even on the back of motorbikes.
It was either nations bring a goat to work day or there was a goat market on today I've never seen so many in my life.
It was the same old same old today with miles of highway punctuated with flyovers which I took to avoid what I described above and at least the roll down the other side gave me a chance to take on some fluids. I also had a few requests for selfies which I obliged so I must be starting to feel better. As I pushed on past the regulation 60 miles as there was a hotel with good reviews further on and I needed an upgrade on last night.
I had suspected that it would be difficult to wild camp in this are due to the density of the population but there seemed to be quite a few open spaces that might work but it was very hot and humid.
With the good road conditions I was getting my mileage done by around 2-3 pm so would be sat sweaty in a hot tent for another 3-4 hours before the sun set so it wasn't really feasible.
Having said that the lure of a cold shower to be able to wash my kit and some aircon was strong!
I got to where the hotel was on MapsMe but the name didn't match but these was no others in sight so I thought maybe it had changed hands and required what the price was of the 12 year old owner which was OK so I booked in.
I was settled in my room and was in the shower when there was a banging at my door and it was the little man himself with a bottle of mineral water. I said thanks and he said 50 rupees which was an extortionate amount of money, I handed it back and he said 20 (told you). I also had a couple of knocks on the door asking if I wanted some food which I was unsure whether to risk and again to clean the room.
Then, as there were no sheets I got out my sleeping bag and liner at which point there was yet another knock at the door and it was mini Michael O'Leary again this time with a bedspread I said thanks and he said 50 rupees so I handed it back and waved him away with no further negotiation.
Given my experiences so far I was not keen to eat at the hotel and get fleeced fo a plate so ventured into the town and played it safe with some crisps and biscuits. On the way out I noticed a brightly lit building opposite which now I could see was the recommended hotel I was actually aiming for Damn!
All good and still solid the next morning so I got back onto the highway good and early with just two more days needed to reach Lucknow and then a couple of days off. As I rode on the farmers were still spreading out this grain for the rising sun to dry.
As I progressed I took a couple of photos of the fantastic hand build lorry bodies which are so common. At first I thought these must be built because the original cab had rusted but later I was passed by a few new chassis which were just the grill so it must be the way they do things out here.
It was head down again and some pretty unremarkable cycling today as I rolled off the 60 miles to get me to Kanpur which was a reasonably big city.
I kept to the same routine of 15 miles breaks but stuck again to my staple diet of fruit and biscuits which the cafes didn't seem to mind me eating at their tables.
At one stop I did get presented with fluoresert bottle of Mountain Dew and gave that a try. Thankfully it turned out the bottle was that colour not the contents!
As I started to enter Kanpur I go summit fever again and decided not to make my last 15 mile stop but about 7 miles short of the finish.
I was mentally exhausted and had a weird echo in my ears like you have when you have been swimming and wondering if all the horns had affected my hearing.
I pulled in and had a bottle of coke and you will be impressed that I was arms length from a freezer full of Magnums but didn't break as dairy products are not recommended for an upset stomach.
As I progressed further into the city I found a cycle lane for the first time which I thought was great bit started to bring its own challenges with motorbike treating it as a dedicated Samonling lane and speeding towards me.
Also as I continued the cycle lane started being taken over by street traders which I had some mischeave with.
Cycling through a silk sheet, toppling a pyramid of limes with my elbow and catching a couple of boxer shorts as I moved through!
Eventually I arrived at the hotel which I had played safe and booked the night before but they were suggesting I left the bike on the street which was a no go.
I got to point of cancelling my booking when they related and let me put it in the front which was undergoing renovations anyway.
That evening I decided to get back on the horse and ordered a small chicken biryani from the fast food place across the road and also bought some Indian sweets which I ate as I updated this blog being the first time in 3 days I had any internet. At 3 am it came back to bite or rather peck me as it was chicken and I was in the bathroom with the cold sweats and had to jump in the shower!
Right last day of this section and despite last nights upset I didn't feel too bad so made my way out of Kanpur. I had to double back on myself to get round the railway station which was an eye opener with people sleeping on beds in the street and bit of a shanty town around the station itself. I stopped to put some air in my rear tyre and my pump disintegrated which must have happened somewhere in the last 300 miles and I was not going to go back and look for it. The valves in India are a different "Dunlop" type so I sent and urgent message to the lads to bring another!
It was then the start of the refuse process for the city where they tip it on the road for the cows and pigs to have a root through and what was left they set alight.
So I was dodging livestock and acrid smoke of burning plastics and eventually made it through this arch and onto the bridge and away!
Well not that far away as at the end of the bridge was a level crossing at the other end but I had learned the approach here that you just duck under it and carry on!
Thankfully the highway was then is sight and I was back to monotony of the straight road were I could turn my stress level from 11 to about 9 and pushed on.
Less than 50 miles today and I was ready for a few days off after my Indian highway experience but the day still had a twist in the tail. Entering the city the road was joined by an elevated railway and between us we forged our way towards the centre.
I was making reasonably good progress getting the hand of the drive where you can and sod everyone else approach to traffic. I was held up by a couple of traffic lights that were unusually complied with which was a clear breach of Indian driving rules.
Then after a huge scum to get past the central train station I had to ride round three sides of a square to get to my hotel but the last leg was restricted by road works which cut the space down to about 6 ft which everything pedestrians included had to pass through.
It took me half an hour to progress through this and I was getting increasingly annoyed by the tuk tuks pushing me from the rear whenever I left a gap for a poor pedestrian!
I arrived where the hotel was shown on the map but no sign so I asked a local shopkeeper who told me it was across the way so I needn't have struggled through that hell hole in the first place!
All I could do was endure the rest of the road works to the end of the street then take a deep breath make a u-turn and head straight back in. This time I had to thread through the road works to get to the side road my hotel was on.
I arrived at the hotel and they could obviously see I was in a bit of a state as they bought me two glasses of water but then claimed I had booked two rooms for tomorrow night and wanted to charge me twice. This was because I had originally booked for one night but then amended it to two when I was confident of my arrival date.
They were not seeing it that way but I showed them my amended confirmation and after 10 minutes and four of them on the case which including some suits from the back this was accepted.
I was at last under a cold shower and down the road for a cold beer and celebrate the end of this leg and my arrival at Lucknow. I now await the arrival of Colin, Brian, Stuart and Seens from the UK on Sunday.
This was not as relaxing as I had hoped as three of the guys had decided to buy bikes for Decathlon in Lucknow and have them delivered to the hotel on Friday but they did not arrive the lads were in transit so on Saturday I had to step in and try to sort this out. With the assistance of the hotel staff we established that they were with a courier company and should be delivered later on that day or on Sunday morning.
With that confirmed, I cycled over to Decathlon myself to pick up a few things and was able to find a replacement valve for my pump which was great, a new pair of cycling shorts and a new shirt. I also bought another pair of swimming goggles as they were cheap hopefully these ones will not leak! Annoyingly there were bikes like the ones the lads had ordered lined up in the store if only I had the means to transport them.
On Saturday evening I got a call from the hotel to say that the courier company had been in contact and had pushed back the time saying the bikes would be delivered between 11 am and 2 pm tomorrow. I had a look around there the hotel was and found a couple of bike shops but none with anything suitable the other issue was that they were not open on Sundays and only opened at 11 am on Monday so not really a viable alternative if the blasted bikes didn't turn up!
At 3pm on Sunday there were still no bikes and I decided enough was enough.
So again with the assistance of the hotel I was able to arrange a man with a van and went back to Decathlon where thankfully the bikes the lads wanted were still in stock to I grabbed three of them and loaded them up!
No further bikes arrived that day and I emailed customer services to advise them that they could tell their inept couriers to return the order which was now cancelled.
Talking of cancelled the next drama I had was with the hotel who wanted 2,000 rupees as I had not checked out even thought I had explained to them that I was staying until the 14th. Further investigation threw up that they had cancelled by friends booking as he had not paid a deposit or responded to their email. I explained to them that he was in transit from the UK so will not be receiving emails but fortunately they had rooms available and this was sorted out.
By the time the lads arrived at 7.30pm I was ready for a beer so we headed straight out and grabbed some refreshment and food!
The next morning we assemble in the car park with some last minute tinker time to put the panniers the lads have brought onto their bikes.
I had changed my rear tyre to a new one that had been brought out for me and it was amazing to the see the wear that had occured from cycling from the UK when comparing the old tyre with the new!
Bri had turned up with a cheap road bike which we thought was a brave choice for the Indian roads but we will see.
My rear tyre had gone flat overnight which I suspected was an issue with the valve as the inner tube has the gunk stuff which is supposed to stop punctures but also clogs up the valves.
The lads had also brought a new cycling top out for me. My Brother-in-law had bought me this at Christmas but it was too small them. However, he had the forethought that with the weight loss over the last six months it was now a perfect fit!
Anyway at about 9am with a big 85 mile day ahead to Faizabad we assembled for the start.
We set off at a steady pace through the road works and after about 200 metres came to the road and a shout went up Bri had a puncture! The others went back and I bought some water then made my way back up the route only to get all the way to the hotel and no sign of them.
Oh dear I've lost them in the first 200 metres and have no means of communication! I rode on and just across the road from where we originally stopped was a large crowd of onlookers, that will be them I thought and thankfully it was!
We managed a couple more miles until the next issue that Stu's pannier bounced off his rack and when into his wheel breaking two spokes so we had to stop and sort that out whilst I pumped up my tyre again as the valve had still not sealed. There were some emerging candidates for the Poulet de Jour. This is a rubber chicken the lads had brought which we take on our group rides and awarded to the biggest fool of the day!
I eventually gave up and put a new inner tube in my rear wheel and after about 10 miles we escaped the city and were on the highway the straightest road you have ever seen.
That didn't however stop the drama as a motorcycle stopping caused Seens to crash into Stu and he managed to take out 4 spokes all together in his front wheel.
Seens was definitely in the lead for the Poulet now as his wound was self inflicted. I was expecting his wheel to collapse at the next pot hole but thankfully it held firm as we still had a long way to go.
Later in the day Stu evened up the spoke tally with another bag incident taking him up to four and then that afternoon after trying a few places we managed to find a spoke guru by the roadside who was able to fix our injured wheels.
So me and Stu stayed back while Bri and Seens who were struggling a bit when ahead to make progress with Col.
With the wheels rebuilt Stu and I powered on and managed to catch the others up and we all arrived together at our hotel as the sun was going down.
Right hopefully this next day will not be as frantic as the last it was about 40 miles to the next hotel we were booked in at Basti. Looking at the map there was an alternative route which was a little longer at 45 miles but took us off the highway which we agreed would be a welcome change.
So after a military send off we were on our way following the highway for the first few miles. Then turning off through a section of road works which was a challenge for Brian’s bike as we skirted round Fazlabad but eventually arrived at the bridge over the river where there were many people bathing in the water.
After that the road was great it was reasonably quiet but still had a few lorries to contend with and took us out into the countryside.
It didn’t last though as in true MapsMe style we were soon funneled down a back street between two buildings and arrived at an embankment with a train line running along which I walked up and there was no sign of a road at the other side. We backtracked and was able to find a proper road at the second attempt but this had a couple of section which were rough gravel and been made of bricks.
At one point we came to the railway again this time a proper level crossing with a freight train rumbling past and as we stood there the beggars made a b-line for us with a little boy giving me particular attention so in true Indian style I led the lads under the barriers and over the tracks once the coast was clear.
We cycled past a couple of schools and had fun with the selection of bells and horns which Stu had bought. We stopped to buy some bananas and this guy arrived on a motorbike who was a teacher at one of the schools we had passed. He asked us to go with him to speak to the children he said it was only 500 metres and we agreed falling in behind him to guide us at least 1,500 metres back up the road.
The visit was great it was a state school aimed at the children of poorer families as those more fortunate would go to one of the many private schools we had passed on our way. I told them of my cycle ride and showed the route I had followed to get there and were taken on a tour of the school.
We were asked if we would like to stay for some tea which would only take a minute to prepare but 10 minutes later we were staring to make noises about having to leave when it thankfully appeared. We tried to make a donation to the school but unlike the UK schools which are well oiled money machines the were having none of it so bid them farewell and were on our way.
The last 10 miles were pretty brutal with more pot holes than road and Bran’s second puncture of the day drew a huge crowd whilst they struggled to get his tiny tyres on those thin wheels that managed to block the road.
Stu was still having issues with his panniers coming off so at a wood mill we managed to get a piece of ply cut down and fastened to his rack to prevent contact with the rear wheel and any more spokes breaking. No charge.
Despite the school visit repairs and punctures we rolled ino Basti at about 4.30 which was a reasonable finish time compared with yesterday.
However, we arrived at our hotel to be told they had stopped using Booking.Com last month had cancelled our rooms and let them to someone else. I had an Indian sim card so was able to make a booking in another hotel about 2.5 km away but when we arrive there it was nowhere to be found.
The crowd quickly assembled around us and one of the guys gave us complicated direction how to get there which by my standards is more then one turning. Not feeling confident of making it we asked another guy with a moped if he knew where it was and could he take us there which he did only to find it was the wrong one! We were booked at the Bhavya Palace Hotel and this was the Grand Bhavya Palace.
Fortunately they were part of the same group and the manager of our hotel was there and he confirmed the right location of his hotel. So we were back on the road again to finally get there as it was approaching 6 pm and the sun was setting again so much for an early finish!
There was however a bar across the street so we nipped in there for a quick beer.
Right time to head for Nepal. We had 75 miles to cover today and with the delays that a border crossing throw up needed to make good time during the day.
We were off the highway but on main roads which were ok quality wise so we made reasonable progress but regulating the pace to make sure we didn’t drop anyone. We were moving through what looked like a more wealthy area which was cleaner which I guess was due to a thriving agriculture industry as these where a lot of tractors and machinery around.
We were doing OK pace wise but at the 30 miles to the border go stop Bri was in a bad way and really struggling with sickness.
Outside the cafe where we had stopped there was a tuk tuk parked up and we asked the driver if he could take Bri to the border he said it would be 1,000 rupees about £12 so we agreed.
Seen who had managed by a combination of a cheap saddle and not applying any cream to rub raw his behind said he would get a lift as well if possible.
Initially the tuk tuk man was not willing to carry two but was persuaded otherwise by more money so they were loaded up and we were off with me,
Me, Col and Stu started time-trialing to the border taking 1km stints at the front. We were flying along and suddenly the tuk tuk was in sight again. They had to stop to pick up another driver which was great as Col had Bri's passport so he was able to get this to him.
As we got 5 miles from the border the carriageway started to get littered with stationary lorries which we had to pick our way though and eventually gave up and moved over onto the other carriageway where the cars had gone.
We met up with Bri and Seens at the Indian immigration office where we were signed out of the country.
We were befriended by a guy who directed us to a money changer and the lads converted their Indian currency to Nepali and as I was coming back I just converted some US dollars and we were good to go.
So long India!
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